Supports for use in chromatography and for other purposes



Jan. 23, 1962 .1, KOPP 3,018,000

SUPPORTS FOR USE IN CHROMATOGRAPHY AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Filed Jan. 21, 1959 2 Sheecs-Sheefl 1 Byw Jan. 23, 1962 J. KOPP 3,018,000

SUPPORTS FOR USE IN CHROMATOGRAPHY AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Filed Jan. 21, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4

HJM v FIC-3.7

ldh Patented Jan. 23, 1962 ire 3,01%.000 SUPPORTS FOR USE IN CHROMATOGRAPHY AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Joseph Kopp, 7913 35th Road, Jackson Heights, NJZ. Filed lan. 21, 1959, Ser. No. 738,223 6 Claims. (Cl. 2li- 45) This invention relates to chromatographic equipment, and the main object is the provision of new and useful improvements in means for supporting a solvent trough or pan at any desired position with respect to the top or bottom of a round jar.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an expansible or contractable collar or ring adapted to be inserted into a jar or other container which is open at the top to whatever level desired, having means for locking the collar against the inner Wall of the jar, the collar being provided with article support means such as, for example, means for mounting a solvent trough or basin thereon.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means, in conjunction with the said supporting means, for leveling the solvent trough or basin.

A still further object of the invention is the provision f said supporting means including the expansible and contractable collar with means for suspending a lter in the form of a roll in the jar for such cases Where the solvent is contained in the bottom of the jar with the filter paper dipped thereinto.

In conjunction with the manufacture of all of the equipment herein disclosed, all parts thereof are either made wholly of a suitable acid and chemical resistant material such as that available on the market under the name Teilom or they are made of other material, such as metal, and are coated with the said resistant material.

The above broad as well as additional objects will be clarified in the following description wherein reference numerals refer to like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawing. It is to be noted that the drawing is intended solely for the purpose of illustration and that it is therefore neither desired nor intended to limit the invention necessarily to any or all of the exact details of construction shown or described except insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing, FIG. l is a top plan view of a jar for chromatographic use provided with the supporting means of the present invention secured therein and supporting a solvent trough.

FIG. 2 is a sectional View taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a frgamentary perspective view, with parts broken away and partly in section, of the releasable means for locking the collar to the jar.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the supporting means shown in FIG. 1 including the solvent trough.`

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the said supporting means together with one of the adapters used therewith to support a solvent basin instead ofthe solvent trough.

"FIG. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the collar of the supporting means provided with the adapter of FIG. 5 and illustrating how a solvent basin is supported thereby.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view, with parts broken away and partly in section, illustrating means for suspending a roll of lter paper from the supporting means.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates a round jar which is usually made of glass, of the kind used in chromatography.

The solvent or specimen supporting means consists of a split collar 11 whose juxtaposed extremities 12 are deformed to lie in a common plane. This collar is formed entirely of a plastic material such as mentioned above, and is somewhat exible. Against the inner surface of each flat end portion 12 of the ring, a block 13 of the same material is secured, as by screws 14 which are either made of the same plastic material or of metal coated with the material. lt is to be noted that a space 15 is provided between the lat portions 12 of the collar. The juxtaposed surfaces of the blocks 13 are cut at equal angles, or beveled, to provide what is equivalent to a V-shaped groove between the blocks, which is, as shown, bisected by a diameter of the collar. A slab 17 of the same plastic material has a metal plate 18 of the same length and width, substantially., aS the slab 17 lixed thereto, as by screws 19, and the slab and plate have aligned longitudinal slots 20 therethrough. Both the slab and the plate are positioned at right angels to the said diameter, The plate 18 is coated with the plastic material, as well as the screws 19. Obviously the slab ll7 may also be termed a plate and the plate 18 may also be termed a slab. A triangular or wedge-shaped plug 21 is loosely positioned in the said `V-shaped groove with its angular sides in slidable contact with the angular surfaces 16 of the blocks 13. This plug has a rounded recess 22 in the face thereof opposite its apex. A threaded hole 23 passes through the plate 18 and the slab i7 in alignment with the recess 22 of the plug. A screw 24 having a knurled head 25 is threaded into the hole 23 and has a rounded or unthreaded tip which registers rotatably in the wedge recess 22. The screw 24 is made of the same plastic material. Screws 26, which may be of metal coated with the plastic material and whose stems are of smaller diameter than the width of the slots 20, secure the slab and plate pivotally to the blocks 13 by passing through the slots 2t). This feature facilitates insertion of the collar into the jar. It is apparent that after the collar has been loosely inserted into the jar, screwing down the screw 24 will force the blocks 13 apart through the action of the Wedge 21 and thus the collar will be secured in position against the jar wall.

At diametrically opposite points spaced a quadrant from the split or space 15 of the collar, inwardly projecting supports or brackets 27 are secured to the collar as by screws 28, the brackets being made of the same plastic material and the screws of metal coated with the material. Each bracket has spaced upright arms 29 which, together with the flat top surface 27a of the bracket body define what may be termed a U-shaped socket or channel. One of the arms 29 is provided with a threaded opening or hole 30 therethrough, adapted to receive a set screw 31. Likewise, a threaded hole 32 extends upward through the bracket into the space between the arms 29 and is adapted to receive a set screw 33. All the set screws mentioned are either made of the same plastic material or of metal coated with the material.

FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 illustrate the use of the supporting means thus far described to support a solvent trough 34, rom which lter paper sheets 35 are adapted to be suspended, in the well known manner, in the jar. The trough 34 comprises the solvent holding body 36 provided with longitudinal eaves or bars 37 extending beyond the lateral edges of the body so that the paper 35 hanging therefrom will not contact the body 36. The trough 34 has at each end a leg 38 having a horizontal extension or foot 39 which is square or rectangular in cross-section, the two feet diverging with respect to each other. The trough is mounted in the brackets 27 by setting the feet 39 between the arms 29. Owing to the at bottoms of 3,01s,ooo

the feet they will register rather stably on the at iloor between the arms. In order to level the trough, the set screws 33 are manipulated; and in order to prevent inadvertent tilting of the trough the set screws 3l are used to secure the feet snugly.

In FIGS. and 6 the same supporting means described above is shown provided with an adapter by means of which the supporting means is adapted to support a basin containing the solvent. Such a basin is shown at 40 and is provided with a circumferential apron 4l. The adapter 42 comprises a ilat plate 43 of the same plastic material having integral with and at right angles thereto a square or rectangular block or foot 44 extending from` the lower portion thereof and adapted to register on the bracket 27 between the arms 29, as shown in FIG. 6. The basin or pan 46 is then supported at each end by engaging the top of the plate 43 under the apron 41.

In FiG, 7 the same supporting means described in relation to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4, and which is basic to all the forms illustrated, is shown, with the collar 11 omitted, applied to a novel means for supporting a roll 45 of lter paper whose lower end is irnmersed in a solvent 46 at the bottom of the jar itl. Here the paper holder comprises a central rod 47 having square or rectangular end portions 4.2 which, like Ilthe `feet 39, FG. 4, and the block or foot 44, FIG. 6, are registrable in the bracket 27 between the arms 29. The holder further comprises parallel arms spaced outward from the rod 47 and formed unitarily therewith by connecting portions 59. This entire holder, indicated by the numeral Si, is made of glass.

Glass hooks 52 have sleeves 33 integral with the Shanks 54 thereof, the sleeves being frictionally rotatable and slidable on the rods 49. After the filter paper 4S has been formed into a roll or cylinder, holes 55 are punched or pierced therein, in which the hooks 52 register, prior to mounting the holder in the brackets.

Thus the basic structure of the present invention, which constitutes the previously mentioned supporting means for a solvent-holding container or a iilter paper holder as in FiG. 7, consists of the split collar llt, the means shown in FlG. 3 for expanding or contracting the collar, and the diametrically opposed brackets 27. To support a container of solvent or a filter paper holder, FlG. 7, it is only necessary that the supported article have rectangular, which term includes square, extremities or feet, or, in the case of the basin 4G, FIG. 6, that the adapter 42 be used.

Although the use of a specic material such as the plastic material mentioned above does not in itself constitute invention, either when the detail is road-e wholly of such material or when it is made of metal coated with the material, its use has been emphasized herein because, like glass and unlike metal, it is wholly resistant to any chemical action with the solvent or specimen and there fore the latter cannot become contaminated and thus affect the results of the test.

It is to be noted that the trough 34, the basin or pan 4t), and ythe holder 51, FIG. 7, are all filter paper holders, even though the `former two are, additionally, solvent containers.

' The invention having thus been described, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. `In combination, a container having vertical inside walls, a support for use in chromatography secured inside the container against said Walls and a ilter paper holder having horizontal supporting portions, said support comprising a split collar mounted in the container,

the collar having juxtaposed ends adjacent the split therein, releasable means secured to said ends for increasing the distance between said ends to expand the collar, the collar having substantially diametrically opposed upright aligned U-shaped brackets spaced from said releasable means, said supporting portions of the lter paper holder having cross-sections complementary to said brackets and registering therein.

2. The combination set forth in claim l, said brackets having adjustable means for raising or lowering said supporting portions of said holder.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1, said filter pa*- er holder comprising a rod having said supporting portions on the ends thereof and having spaced bars on the sides `of said rod parallel with the rod, said bars having hooks slidable and rotatable thereon adapted to engage the upper edge of a roll of filter paper to suspend the paper therefrom.

4. A split collar of resilient material having means for expanding the same positioned entirely within the contines of the collar whereby the collar may be frictionally secured against the inner wall of a cylindrical container, said means comprising blocks on the radially inward sides of the opposed extremities of the collar adjacent the split therein, the juxtaposed vertical surfaces of said blocks being beveled to define a V-shaped radial groove between the blocks with the widest end of the V of the groove facing radially inward with respect to the collar, a vertical plate positioned radially inward of the blocks at right angles to the diameter `of the collar which passes midway between the blocks, the plate having longitudinal slots in the ends thereof, headed stems passing through said slots and secured to the blocks thereby securing the plate slidably and pivotally to the blocks, a wedge registering slidably in said groove, said plate having a threaded opening therethrough intermediate the length thereof aligned with said wedge, and la screw threaded in said opening and engaging said wedge.

5. A split collar according to claim 4, said collar having spaced upright U-shaped brackets secured to the inner surface thereof, and a lter paper holder having end supports complementary to and registrable in said brackets.

6. ln combination, a support vfor use in chromatography and a filter paper holder, said support comprising a split collar having juxtaposed ends adjacent the split therein, releasable means secured to said ends for increasing the distance between said ends to expand the collar, said releasable means being positioned entirehl Within the contines of the collar whereby the collar may be frictionally secured against the inner wall of a container, the collar having substantially diametrically opposed upstanding brackets thereon, the ilter paper holder having extensions on the ends thereof resting upon said brackets, said brackets and said extensions having complementary interengaging portions restricting the lter paper holder from displacement with respect tothe collar.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,215,547 Dick Sept. 24, 1940 2,278,336 n Tetzlaif Mar. 3], 1942 2,778,085 Bernard lan. 22, 19.57

OTHER REFERENCES Chromatography (Lederer et al), Cleaver-Hume Press Ltd., London (1957), figure 42.

Practical Chromatograph (Brimley et a1.), Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York (1954), ligure 5, page 25. 

1. IN COMBINATION, A CONTAINER HAVING VERTICAL INSIDE WALLS, A SUPPORT FOR USE IN CHROMATOGRAPHY SECURED INSIDE THE CONTAINER AGAINST SAID WALLS AND A FILTER PAPER HOLDER HAVING HORIZONTAL SUPPORTING PORTIONS, SAID SUPPORT COMPRISING A SPLIT COLLAR MOUNTED IN THE CONTAINER, THE COLLAR HAVING JUXTAPOSED ENDS ADJACENT THE SPLIT THERE- 